


Just a Spark

by iwilltry_tocarryon



Category: Revolution (TV)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-20
Updated: 2015-03-20
Packaged: 2018-03-18 18:35:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,230
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3579696
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/iwilltry_tocarryon/pseuds/iwilltry_tocarryon
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Just a brief one-shot during 2X18 if Bass had showed up when Jason was activated (the song is a Noah Gundersen song, and the lyrics just fit so perfectly I couldn't resist writing something)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Just a Spark

_And someone lies bleeding_   
_Someone got violent and did not think twice_

Damn it, where the hell was Charlie? Miles came out first, looking around as similar thoughts ran amuck in his mind. Bass could tell by the perplexed expression on his face that he had no clue where the girl was either.

“I’ll go find her, take Connor and go.” Bass didn’t give him any time to argue or even unhinge his locked jaw. Quickly, he jogged into the building she had gone into earlier. Scouring every corridor, his hand hovered on the sword perched at his side, always ready for an attack. He started to regret leaving the gun with Miles though when he heard a lot of loud commotion coming from one of the rooms.

He didn’t event think twice before barging in, eyes struggling to take in the sight of Charlie thrashing against a shelving unit. Jason’s massive body was in front of her, hands firmly gripping around her slender neck as Charlie’s hands weakly shoved at his face. 

Immediately, Bass could feel his spiking body temperature cause blood to bubble to the surface of his skin. Rage coursed through his veins as he strode across the room, whacking Jason on the back of the head.

Jason’s brief faltering gave Bass enough time to lock eyes with Charlie’s sinking body, silently asking if she was okay. Stupid question, but it was the only thing he knew to ask. Unfortunately, he didn’t get a chance to hear a vocal response from her, knocked sideways as Jason’s body crashed into his.

Charlie wanted to respond, but all of her energy was busy being spent on gathering oxygen into her deflated lungs, gasping as her throat clenched in agony. This wasn’t Jason. He would never hurt her. He was just activated, but that didn’t ease the sting of the pain. She had looked into his cold, dead eyes, watching as no emotion flashed across his face when he was sucking the life from her body. She had watched as he continued, pressing his thumbs even harder into her skin, all but crushing her windpipe in the process. 

Bass brought his fist up, repeatedly smashing Jason in the face, blood splattering against his shirt with each hit. Jason visibly flinched backwards a few times, but his super soldier strength propelled hijacked his body. 

Bass couldn’t imagine what it was like to be activated, to have basically no control over your own body. I guess, at least that gave Jason an excuse once he snapped the fuck out of this trance. He would get to walk away knowing it wasn’t his fault; it was out of his hands, unlike Bass who always had control. 

He had control over his body when he dragged Emma into a fucking firing squad, but that didn’t stop him from making a stupid, heartless mistake. Of course, even if he had no control he would’ve felt guilty all the same. Just as he was sure Jason would afterwards.

Fuck, he could feel Jason’s hands clamping around his throat, going in for the kill. Bass brought his elbow up, angling it so that he could drive it down into Jason’s arm. Gaining the reaction he anticipated, Jason’s arm folded, grip loosening enough for Bass to deliver another clean blow to his face. The right hook to Jason’s damned perfectly chiseled jaw emitted a cracking sound, but only fueled his uncontrollable rampage. 

Bass felt a hard tap against his skull as it thudded against the floor. His lips parted, letting a loud groan escape before his knee reflexively came up to knock roughly against Jason’s chest.

It was enough of a shove to put distance between their bodies as Bass’ vision swam. He could feel the slow trickling of blood down his neck, pooling around the collar of his shirt. His hand went to the sword at his side, blade whistling as he dragged it from the holster. 

He was trying really hard not to kill the douchebag asshole, but if it came down to his life or Jason’s, well, he was a survivor for a reason. That reason being he knew what it took to survive, he knew what had to be done and he did it.

Get up, Charlie. Get. Up. Her bones screamed in protest, aching as she rose to a standing position. All she could focus on was stopping Jason before Bass killed him. She had no idea why he hadn’t done it already. She was quite sure Bass was capable of executing a swift, fast kill. She had seen him do it many times without even the slightest bit of hesitation. His movements were almost all defensive moves, only resorting to offensive a few times. Why was he choosing now to only maim Jason?

Regardless, she pushed those thoughts aside, coming to his aid as she threw her body in Jason’s direction. She saw Bass on the ground and just reacted, she didn’t even think, which was stupid on her part. Immediately her body collided with, what felt like a brick wall, until they both tumbled onto the ground. Luckily her ass broke her fall. 

Wildly throwing elbows, she felt his calloused hands coil around her throat again. She bent her knees, trying to give her body enough momentum to fight him off. Her arms extended out, pounding at his chest. “Jason, stop,” she managed to wheeze out, forcing her mind to cooperate. “Stop. This isn’t you—“

Her speech was cut short when his thumbs mashed into the column of her throat. Panting, her head lolled back, eyelids fluttering to stay open. Her body wanted to succumb to unconsciousness, but Charlie wasn’t a quitter. She intended to go down swinging. 

Her hands stopped their feeble attempt at fighting, flopping to the side instead, fumbling for something sturdy enough to hit him with. Eventually they latched onto a book. It connected with the side of his face, causing his jaw to whip around to the other side. The sound echoed throughout the deafening silence of the room as Jason stumbled backwards.

She didn’t have to react to the swirling fury brewing behind his eyes as he crouched into a leaping position.

Bass was back on his feet, rolling the weight onto the balls of his heels before charging forward. Using the hilt of his sword, he rammed it into the side of Jason’s face, nose snapping like a twig. 

He was only trying this disarming method for Charlie, because he knew that she cared for Jason. His hands were already bloodstained, tainted by spilled Matheson blood. As dumb as it sounded, he didn’t want to give her another reason to hate him, not when she was probably the only person he trusted to watch his back at the moment. He didn’t want to be the one to have to kill Jason, but it came down to her or Jason, he wouldn’t waver. He’d empty an entire clip in Jason’s body if that’s what it took because at the end of the day, he’d rather she hate him than be dead.

Charlie watched as they fought, tugging the power struggle rope back and forth. Scrambling backwards, she heaved herself up, searching for the gun that had gotten lost in amongst being tossed around like a ragdoll. She didn’t intend to kill him, but she hoped like hell it would be enough incentive for him to snap out of it.

Her eyes zeroed in on the weapon, hands reaching out to snatch it up. Keeping it close to her body, she sprinted back over to where Bass was trying to keep his cool. She could see the anger rolling off his body in consistent waves.

The blade of Jason’s knife felt cool against Bass’ overheated, scalding flesh. He wasn’t remotely worried that the punk was going to be able to kill him. Hell, this wasn’t Bass’ first rodeo. If a lethal injection and his best friend couldn’t kill him, he seriously doubted Jason Neville would be his undoing.

Twisting Jason’s hand inward, he forced the blade into his shoulder. Fuck, maybe being wounded would break through whatever fucking creepy ass hold the patriots had over him.

Bass grunted when his ass collided with the ground once more. Apparently that only made Jason angrier. Okay, he had enough of this dicking around. As soon as Jason got close enough he was going to slide that blade across his neck. He didn’t give a damn about how mad Charlie would be. His head rotated backwards a tiny bit, never taking his eyes off Jason’s approaching form when he heard a gun cock back.

“Jason, stop, please. This isn’t you.” Her voice cracked, throat shriveling up due to strangulation and the raw emotion flowing through her body. Her voice may have waivered, but her arms remained steady, controlled. 

There were only a few other people Bass had known in his life that were able to retain that much control and poise under extreme amounts of pressure. Miles was one of those people. Every day, Charlie proved to be more and more like Miles than Rachel, which was a damn good thing if you asked Bass. 

Still though, he couldn’t quite say she was completely like Miles. He always kept his cool during stressful situations, but his face stayed blank and impassive. You could never tell what Miles was feeling when he went into that mode.

Charlie’s emotions mirrored all along the surface of her face. Pain, grief, anger, it all swirled around her delicate face. “Jason! Snap out of it. I don’t wanna have to do this. THIS ISN’T YOU.”

She fought valiantly to direct his attention to where she was standing, but his eyes peered down at Bass. The knife permanently glued to Jason’s palm reflected against the light beaming in from outside, extended slightly about his head. He was ready to strike, and Bass was all the more ready to end this now.

But as soon as Jason’s arm twitched, the sound of bullets firing filled the air, ricocheting off the concrete walls.

Bass took that opportunity to slide backwards, confusion evident across his face as he looked back to Charlie. He was prepared for all types of circumstances and scenarios about how this would play out. He wasn’t prepared for Charlie taking the shot.

She didn’t spare a glance in his direction though. Immediately after firing, watching as Jason’s body collapsed to the ground, she tossed the gun aside. She met his descending body halfway, molding it against her own, willing her own rapid heartbeat to revive his back to life.

_And through the haze and the gun smoke_   
_I'm forced to believe you're probably right_

Her heart constricted to an unbearable degree. Not even Jason’s hold earlier could compare to the weight pressing down on her chest. Every fiber in her body had shut down, tears pricking her eyes as they slowly slid down her cheeks. She didn’t mean for this to happen, it wasn’t supposed to end like this, not now.

Bass felt his own heart painfully twisting inside the cavity of his chest. It felt like a rope was wrapped around it, tugged tighter with every silent sob wracking through Charlie’s body. 

Images of Emma entered his mind, recalling the day he held her bloodied body in his arms, watching as the life faded from her eyes right after being told he was a father.

His own hand wasn’t the one attached to the gun, but it was because of him that she was out there in the first place. There wasn’t a day that passed that he didn’t feel guilt and regret clouding his eyes, like a hazy fog that was hard to see past. There were days when the guilt was so thick it made everything else opaque, but there were also days when the veil lifted. 

Glancing down at Charlie’s trembling body, arms tightly enveloping Jason’s limp carcass; he knew what she was feeling. It was probably infinitely worse for Charlie because she’s the one who pulled the trigger, though Jason left her with no choice. He knew that torment would eat her alive the longer she marinated in it.

“Charlie,” he softly called. There was no response. Louder, he tried again, “Charlie, come on. We gotta go.”

There had been a time when Miles spoke similar words to her as they stood over Maggie’s grave. She knew then that he was right; they had to go because Danny was still very much alive, life on the line, but now what was the urgency? There was no one left. Her dad was gone, Danny, Maggie, Nora, and now Jason. All gone.

Frustration lined the inside of Bass’ body. He knew she needed to grieve, but they didn’t have the time to sit and wallow, not when more patriots could pop up at any moment. That wasn’t the only reason. Bass just couldn’t take standing idly by, watching as she mutely broke down. 

He tugged gently at her arm, trying to pull her to her feet. “Charlie…Charlotte,” he gave up trying to get her to stand, bending down beside of her. “We have to go Charlie, we can’t stay here.”

“What’s the point,” she mumbled, voice void of all emotion.

Bass recoiled from the frost lacing her tone, words chilling down to the bone. “The point is to survive Charlie. To do whatever it takes, to not give up without a fight—“

“I don’t know what we’re fighting for anymore.”

God. Now was not the time to have an existential crisis, but he couldn’t say he blamed her for thinking that way. He just never thought there was any sort of doubt in Charlie’s stubborn, headstrong mind. She always came across as so sure of herself and what she was doing. He liked that quality, but he admired her even more for putting her cards on the table, admitting her uncertainty.

“Charlie…I can’t answer that…but you’re strong, so fucking strong. Stronger than Miles and I ever were, and you did what had to be done.”

“I don’t even know why I did it.” She quietly let the words fall from her mouth. “I saw him, standing over you and I blanked. I just wanted to stop him before he killed you.”

His throat dried up along with any thoughts or words left lingering on the edge of his tongue. He knew that part of the reason she did it was because she knew Jason wouldn’t have wanted this. But since her emotions went haywire her guard was down, there was no filter. The first things that came to mind were what came out.

It was unfortunate, shitty circumstances, but Bass couldn’t help the overwhelming feeling piercing his body. He couldn’t even put his finger on what the feeling actually was. Obviously it wasn’t one he was used to experiencing, at least not in a long time.

On instinct his hands shot out to wrench her body from Jason’s. He ignored her shriek of refusal, cradling her shaking body drenched in dried blood against his own. Gently, he soothing rocked their intertwined bodies slowly. Emma was the last person he remembered holding this close, and even then it was only briefly. 

It felt a bit unnatural at first to have his arms wrapped around another warm body, especially a woman’s when there was no sex involved. This was pure, raw emotion, leaving both of them exposed and vulnerable. He could feel every emotion radiating from her body, pouring into his own. On its own, one hand found a place on her back, drawing small circles against the material of her shirt. It only took a few seconds for him to relax while Charlie remained stiff for a bit longer.

There were no words or thoughts coming to mind in that moment. She never thought in a million years General Sebastian Monroe would be the one to comfort her after the loss of, what might’ve been her first love. Of course, he wasn’t really General Monroe anymore, hadn’t been for a long time. She tried to see him that way, made things a helluva lot easier, but the image never stuck in her mind. It was always subconsciously kicked out of her head. 

Tentatively, her drooping arms by her side coasted through the air, landing around his upper back. As soon as her arms tangled around him the rest of her body followed suit, caving into his warm embrace as her body hiccupped. 

She tried to slow her breathing down, but it wasn’t until his hand softly stroked her hair, lips whispering soothing sounds into her ear, that she was able to inhale properly. It felt like she was finally able to breathe fresh air rather than the smoke infested air loitering at the bottom of her lungs, choking her.

When there were no more tears left she stayed in his embrace, nuzzling her hair into his shoulder. Her erratic heartbeat tapered off into a dull thud, finding a rhythm as she listened to the sound of Bass’ beating heart.

His hand delved into her flowing tresses, weaving his fingers in between the strands as his lips ghosted by her ear. “We have to go Charlotte,” he coaxed, words slipping slowly from his lips. “This is really bad advice, but it’s all I have at the time.”

He pulled back, keeping her body at arms length as his eyes sought hers. “You can’t let this cloud your judgment, you can’t let it get in the way of what’s in front of you. You have to bury it inside for now, as hard as that may be because that’s what it’s gonna take in order to survive. And you’re gonna survive Charlie. I’ll make damn sure of that. I’ll save you I swear, but you’re gonna have to help. The best way for you to help right now is to fake it until you make it, because you will make it.”

Blank face met his, head on. She didn’t verbally say anything or give an indication that she was listening, but Bass knew she was. He could feel it, just like he knew she was going to be okay. This was Charlie; he had no doubt about it.

At least he was confident, because Charlie wasn’t so sure. Still, she let him lead her out of the building, objects twirling around as she fought to focus. Her whole body felt like it was encased in a haze, being blindly dragged from the wreckage. She felt numb, but at the same time, there was a part of her that felt alive, though none of that was ever expressed upon her broken face.

Losing Jason was probably one of the hardest things she had to experience, especially due to the creeping guilt bubbling up. But Bass was probably right. If she couldn’t face it, she had to fake it until there was time to grieve. She had to repress all of that remorse and sorrow threatening to drown her body.

Later, when Miles opened his mouth, ready to spout out some motivational shit about her having no choice, she cut him off before he even began. Claiming she didn’t need a pep talk. And she didn’t need one…because she already had one.


End file.
